Today is the deadline for U.S. retailers to unload any unsold baby cribs that don’t meet the federal government’s new safety standards. There are something like 117,000 cribs that are headed to the dump. Oddly enough, they have never been declared unsafe. They are not considered unsafe, a hazard to children, or subject to recall. They simply do not meet the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s latest safety test. Any cribs that are unsold by today must be destroyed and sent to landfills. Perfectly good, perfectly safe cribs must be destroyed because some bureaucrats decided that drop-side cribs don’t meet the new paperwork.

The new safety regulations essentially prohibit drop-side cribs, and make retrofitting unused models very difficult. The new safety regulations are apparently unconcerned about millions of American mother’s backs! Been there, done that. The whole reason that drop-side cribs were invented is that lifting a heavy, wet baby in and out of a crib is very hard on the back, and I’m fairly tall. Short moms are out of luck. Retailers, in a sour economy, stand to lose at least $32 million according to the commission’s own estimates.

A related regulation applies to daycare providers, requiring that all cribs — regardless of age or condition must be replaced by December 28, 2012.

The commission was following a congressional mandate to update safety standards. The 100,000 number represents the inventory of just five retailers, so it may be vastly underestimated. The commission had the option to extend the deadline to spare businesses the hit in a down economy, but the Democrat-controlled commission refused to move the deadline.

This administration just cannot stop imposing new and damaging regulations on business. And Obama wonders why employers aren’t hiring. Look in the mirror, Mr. President.